While a walk-in closet has room to store all your clothes, it’s best to just keep those you truly love. These tips will help you with your seasonal wardrobe purges.

Lately, I can’t open my Facebook page without reading about capsule wardrobes (that, and delicious recipes and enviable vacations, but that’s beside the point). The idea behind them is that you create a carefully chosen, super small collection of clothing pieces that can be mixed and matched to last you an entire season, cutting down on closet clutter and simplifying your routine. Sounds great, but if you have to dress for outdoor activities, work, evenings out, important meetings in DC, and casual family nights, how will a handful of pieces cover all those needs? And then, when the season shifts, and you go from muggy cicada-serenaded Virginia days to snow, you’d need to start all over—a wide variety of pieces is needed to service our wide variety of weather.

While a capsule wardrobe sounds nice, in the end, it just wouldn’t be practical. But we don’t need to strip our wardrobe down to bare bones to eliminate closet clutter and simplify our lives. By maintaining what you already have and thoughtfully culling and adding new pieces as you go, you can keep your closet organized and your routine easy. Unfortunately, most closets don’t help with this process. Custom closets solve this problem by offering smart storage options that help you stay on top of your evolving wardrobe needs.

Change With the Seasons

In Virginia, we are used to hot summers, cold winters, and everything in between, and we need clothes that can carry us through a full range of seasons. Without smart closet solutions, this often means that our t-shirts are folded right next to our fleeces and our parkas are nestled against our summer dresses. A custom closet can be designed to keep in-season clothing front and center, while giving you the space you need to store off-season items above or below. By seasonally rotating your items through your closet space, you’re able to access exactly what you need when you need it, and are more likely to use what you have.

Take Stock

One of the main reasons many of us struggle with closet organization is that we keep adding new items without getting rid of outdated, worn, or ill-fitting clothes. This is especially true of if you keep all of your items on a single, overstuffed bar or a dresser where everything stays the same and you never get a chance to evaluate what you have. By regularly taking inventory of your wardrobe (when you swap out seasonal clothes!), you can determine which items are still useful and which ones have worn out their welcome.

Because a custom closet is designed around your diverse storage needs, it’s easy to see what you have. Rather than cramming everything onto a wardrobe bar, you can combine hanging storage with shelving and drawers to ensure everything has a place and is easily accessible when the time comes to purge. And because custom closets can be as beautiful as they are functional, you won’t mind spending the time to get organized.

Create Creative Systems

While going through your wardrobe every few months to cull unwanted items is essential to maintaining your closet, you can also create routines that help you as you go. One of my favorite tricks is placing hangers backward on the wardrobe bar at the beginning of the season, and flipping them back around after I’ve worn the item. If the season passes and the hanger is still backward, I didn’t wear the item at all, and probably don’t need it.

Another great tip is leaving extra room for new purchases; by designating a shelf, a drawer, or a portion of your wardrobe bar for new items, you know that you have the space to accommodate your great finds. When the space fills up, you know it’s time to take stock of your existing wardrobe to see what can be donated or thrown away. When you’re designing your closet, be sure to account for this extra space to help you stay organized.

Personalized Storage Solutions

A custom-designed closet is an ideal solution for cutting back on clutter and helping you make the most out of your wardrobe each season. By creating smart, personalized storage solutions that fit your space and your stuff, you’re able to stay on top of wardrobe maintenance while also adding value and beauty to your home.

At Closet America, we understand that every family has unique organizational challenges, which is why we work hand-in-hand with you to find the perfect solutions for your individual situation. We take inventory of exactly what your closet needs to contain and find out how you use your closet space to come up with innovative design ideas that will work for you. Our entire design process takes place in your home using state-of-the-art screen-to-machine technology, giving you the chance to see a beautiful 3D model of your new closet before the design is sent to our local factory for manufacturing. With a tailored, beautiful, and functional organizational system, you can be sure that your closet will last you for years—and many clothing seasons—to come.

Closet America is the D.C. area’s leading creator of custom-made home offices, designer closets, garages, pantries, mudrooms, and laundry storage spaces. Our experienced team of designers and engineers help create unique solutions that are customized with your needs in mind. With Closest America, you can have everything in its place, perfectly. Schedule a free design consultation today!